Violence Is
by TigressDreamer
Summary: Sunshine's woes and Marianne's foes and Bog's heart is all aglow. (Set two-ish weeks after Santa, I... Rated to be safe for childhood sensitivities.)
1. Violence is not the Answer

**Disclaimer for the entire story: Sadly, I do not own Strange Magic, although I do have the DVD that I play once a week.**

**This one is completely and utterly ShivaeSyke on AO3's doing *coughfaultcough* and I have no shame. Not much Sunshine in this one but she's had a rough day. I wrote this yesterday and had planned to post it but it became a bit too late when I finished and sleep was forthcoming. Constructive advice is appreciated but please refrain from criticism. Enjoy!**

**(Slight edit as of October 17, 2020)**

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**Chapter 1/Violence is not the Answer**

There is no doubt about it.

Dawn is going to kill her.

Swift and without mercy.

It's not that it's really her fault, she didn't cause this after all, but she is the one who taught Sunshine those kickboxing moves and Dawn will definitely blame her. At least she has two days left to live...as long as Dawn doesn't catch wind of this little incident and come home early.

"I'm Marianne Blaze, here to pick up Sunshine Prince," Marianne recites once she enters the school office.

"Ah yes, Auntie Mari," the secretary hums. "I'll need you to sign here...and here...as well as here. This is for you, a written record of the incident, along with a copy of the school's policy and the nurse's report. Also, Principal Bowers would like to see Mr and Mrs Prince as soon as they return home to discuss Miss Prince's future with the school."

"Discuss Sunshine's future with the school?" Marianne repeats slowly, pausing in her speed-reading of the papers.

"We are a prestigious academy and we do not tolerate violent pupils. Should Miss Prince continue to be disruptive, we will have no choice but to expel her permanently," the secretary explains before walking toward the closed door on her right.

Marianne can feel her left eye twitching with the effort to keep her face neutral and to keep her opinions to herself, especially as a very somber Sunshine is let out of the 'time-out' room. Only by miraculous strength does she manage to stay calm enough to give stilted pleasantries before briskly leaving with the sorrowful child safely secured in her arms.

Sunshine is in preschool, for heaven's sake!

"Are you mad at me, Auntie Mari?" Sunshine questions softly, disrupting her thoughts.

"I'm not mad at you, Sunshine," Marianne reassures. "I just think the school is overreacting a little."

"But I'm bad," Sunshine murmurs.

"You aren't bad," Marianne corrects.

"I fought at school and that's bad," Sunshine points out, leaning far enough away to stare up to her aunt with sad baby blue eyes.

"Acting bad doesn't make you bad. You only become bad when you keep doing bad things even when you know they're bad to do," Marianne explains. "Fighting is bad because violence is not the answer to any problem. It's better to talk things out."

"But Denny won't listen to me!" Sunshine pouts, scrunching her face into a glare that was too cute to be terrifying.

"Then it's better to walk away if the problem can't be solved with talking," Marianne counters.

"Miss Kissell says it's rude to walk away from someone talking to you and that you have to listen to what older people tell you. She said that I'm bad because I said that Denny was wrong," Sunshine comments.

Dawn can kill her later. First thing her little sister is doing when she gets home is enrolling her angelic niece out of that torture-house and into a nicer school. Sunshine doesn't even need preschool. She is smart enough...

Maybe a little too smart.

Shaking her head softly in amusement as her mind wanders back to what happened two weeks ago, Marianne slows down her powerwalking and lets some of the tension out of her muscles. Catching sight of the driver of the dark blue SUV waiting on the curb relaxes her even more and she bites her lip to keep the goofy smile from rising as Bog's anxious expression causes her to think about what a great father he'll make.

It's strange that being forced to tell everyone that she wasn't pregnant had made her think more and more about what it'd be like if it was true, especially with Bog being the father.

"How is she?" Bog asks as he opens the back door for Marianne to buckle Sunshine into her car seat.

"She's got a few scratches and is expelled for the next three school-days," Marianne informs, securing the five-year-old and shutting the back door before continuing with a wicked smile. "On the bright side, she gave the second-grader a split lip, probably a black eye, and a lot of scratches."

"She did that to a second-grader?! Impressive," Bog murmurs. "What was a second-grader doing around a pre-schooler anyway?"

"Don't know, the letter doesn't say and it doesn't even mention them questioning the kids about what caused the fight. Just that Sunshine was the one that attacked the boy first and therefore, she is the troublemaker," Marianne growls. "It's bad enough that they didn't even listen to Sunshine when she told them that her parents are out of town but they've had her in the 'time-out' room since the fight happened this morning."

"This morning?" Bog repeats with a growl.

"Yes, this morning. They've been calling the house instead of believing that she is staying with me for a few days and it's only when neither Sunny nor Dawn came to pick Sunshine up after school ended did they decide to call me, the emergency contact," Marianne grumbles.

"Let's get out of here before I wind up in the 'time-out' room," Bog mutters.

Marianne laughs as Bog glares toward the educational building. Maybe she'll be saved from Dawn's wrath by diverting it toward the school. Violence may not be the answer but no one messes with their Sunshine.

**Tea Blend.**


	2. Violence is the Question

**Chapter2/Violence is the Question**

Donald sighs as he walks past the iron bars containing frightened occupants that all huddle as far as possible from the pacing figure just a few feet away. Growls can easily be heard above the whimpers and he can't resist the urge to sigh again as the tense apex predator makes another violent outburst, causing even his escort to shiver in fear.

"Marianne, stop terrifying the other prisoners and calm down," Donald comments tiredly as his eldest daughter paces across the large jail cell once more.

"Calm down! How can you tell me to calm down after what happened?!" Marianne yells, paying no attention as her cellmates cling to each other even tighter.

"What happened?" Donald questions.

"That...that...that JERK! How dare he?!" Marianne growls, gesturing squeezing something with her hands before crossing her arms.

"Marianne, what happened?" Donald asks again. "Bog wasn't able to tell me anything and the police don't know much either, so why don't you tell me."

"Okay, fine," Marianne mutters.

Donald tries not to chuckle as the occupants of the city jail breathe an audible sigh of relief when Marianne finally takes a seat on the bench but it's a lost cause when someone screams in fright when Marianne rises to pace again.

"It's like this. You know how I had to pick Sunshine up from school since they wouldn't let her take the school bus home because of the fight. Well, Bog and I decided that ice cream was in order, so we went to Sugar Plum's Cafe. Yeah, I know, we shouldn't encourage the fighting behavior but we figured that she'd be more ready to tell us what happened if she was a lot calmer," Marianne explains, waving off her father's attempt at speech. "Turns out that Sunshine and her friends were talking about the presents they got for Christmas while they were in the cafeteria for breakfast and the second-grader, Denny, had overheard them and invited himself into their conversation. They had already asked him to go away but he refused and then he told them that Santa Claus isn't real. An eight-year-old told a group of four and five-year-olds that Santa isn't real and the teacher didn't even care! No, they got mad at Sunshine for standing up to the little bully, even though he pushed her first and called her a baby! I don't know why Dawn insisted on putting Sunshine in that school. Who cares if they have a high success rate for graduates that go onto vast careers, they're a bunch of snobs!"

"Yes, yes, I'm sure we all agree but back to the subject at hand. Like the incident that caused you to wind up in jail," Donald coaxes, already planning on talking with his youngest daughter.

"By the time Sunshine finished with her story, she had more ice cream on her than in her, so I took her to clean up while Bog stayed at the table. Next thing I know, someone started laughing loud enough that we heard it in the bathroom, and Aura comes running in to tell us not to go out. Well, you know me," Marianne continues with a smirk.

"Only too well. Aura should have told you to go out and then you would have stayed in and none of this would have happened," Donald mutters.

"Haha, Dad," Marianne comments dryly. "Anyway, I went out to see this JERK being the one laughing and Bog...poor Bog, he looked so horrified!"

Bog? Horrified?

That didn't sound right.

Donald can't help as his eyebrow raises in surprise. He had met the man several times before that fateful day last October when the pair finally started dating and he was almost positive that nothing could shake the gym owner...well, nothing except the woman standing before him whose expression portrays that she is reliving a traumatizing moment.

"Poor Bog," Marianne whimpers, her amber eyes filling with tears. "How could that JERK do that?!"

"Marianne, what happened? What did he do?" Donald questions.

"Before Sunshine and I left the table to get her cleaned up, she asked us if Denny was right since the teachers didn't correct him and Bog told her that Santa Claus is real. He said that Denny was probably too naughty to get anything from Santa and that the teachers were probably grumpy because Santa stops giving presents once you grow up. To which Sunshine replied that she will not grow up if it means no more presents from Santa," Marianne chuckles.

The tentative laughter filling the enclosed area stops immediately as the sense of danger fills the air once more and terrified eyes stare from their places pressed against the edges of the jail cells as the petite brunette's attitude shifts back to violent predator. Like a wild tiger denied its freedom by iron bars, Marianne paces furiously and gestures wildly.

"And you know what that JERK did while we were in the bathroom?! He started complaining to Bog about teaching 'our daughter' fairytales and nonsense and that we are bad parents for telling Sunshine that Santa Claus is real. Bog believes in Santa!" Marianne yells. "That JERK ruined my boyfriend's innocence and then laughed at him when he realized that Bog believed in Santa! He was laughing at Bog! THAT JERK!"

Donald hums in understanding as Marianne starts shadow boxing. It's obvious what happened next. No doubt his wild-cat-of-a-daughter immediately pounced on the offender to punish him for his transgression.

It also explains why he couldn't get a straight answer out of Bog. Marianne basically defended him and now the man can't stop swooning long enough to explain the simple events. Merely repeating how incredible his girlfriend is and how fortunate he is to have her.

Good thing Aura had the presence of mind to keep Sunshine occupied and away from the commotion. This would not be a comfortable thing to explain to a five-year-old. It's bad enough that Sunny and Dawn are already on their way home thanks to Aura contacting them first to inform them of the cafe fight and Marianne's subsequent arrest.

Also a good thing that even while furious, Marianne had controlled her strength enough not to do too much damage. Though, she'll probably have to go on probation again and back to anger management classes.

"Marianne, I've told you a thousand times," Donald sighs. "It's better to talk things out or walk away. Violence is not the answer."

"But violence is the question," Marianne counters, miming the punch that would have knocked her ex-opponent unconscious. "And the answer is yes!"

"Hopefully, so is this one," Bog murmurs shyly, walking up beside Donald and kneeling in front of the jail cell with his right-hand palm up. "Well, how about it, tough girl, would ye be my sparring partner for life?"

Donald chuckles once more as the enraged caged tiger before him turns into a startled blinking kitten. Seems the police escorted her away too soon for Marianne to realize that Bog isn't traumatized one bit by this turn of events.

**Tea Blend.**


End file.
